US Senator John Kerry said Saturday after talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad he is hopeful that strained US-Syrian relations can be improved. Assad in return assured Kerry he is interested in dialogue with Washington.

The former Democratic presidential candidate, who arrived in Damascus Friday, met for two hours with Assad before meeting separately with Foreign Minister Farouk a-Sharaa.

The talks centered on the situation in Iraq and how to prevent militants from entering Iraq through Syria.

"I think we found a great deal of areas of mutual interest, some common concerns and some possibilities for initiatives that could be taken in the future to strengthening relationship between the US and Syria," Kerry told reporters after meeting with a-Sharaa.

"I can assure you that I leave here with a sense that we can improve our relationship. There are significant possibilities, particularly with the elections in Iraq and the elections in the West Bank," Kerry said. "This is the moment of opportunity for the Middle East, for the US and for the world. I hope that we would seize that opportunity."

Kerry said there were "still concerns" that need to be addressed. "But I came away confident that the president and foreign minister are interested in moving in the right direction, and I am hopeful they will," he said.

Assad stressed "the importance of dialogue between the two sides over all issues under discussion, especially those of common interest," Syria's official news agency reported without elaborating.

In September, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and dismantle the Syrian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group.

More recently, US President George W. Bush has warned Syria and Iran against "meddling" in the internal affairs of Iraq.

Kerry arrived from Iraq, where he met US troops in the volatile northern city of Mosul, the scene of a suicide bombing last month on a military base that killed 22 people, including 14 US soldiers and three American contractors.

All we need now is another Jimmy Carter mucking around in foreign policy.......John Kerry should traipse off with Ramsey Clarke to some remote beach in Tahiti. They can enjoy their retirement together without further embarrassing themselves.

"I can assure you that I leave here with a sense that we can improve our relationship. There are significant possibilities, particularly with the elections in Iraq and the elections in the West Bank," Kerry said. "This is the moment of opportunity for the Middle East, for the US and for the world. I hope that we would seize that opportunity..."

...and Bush doesn't F it up

17
posted on 01/08/2005 12:40:20 PM PST
by Go Gordon
(If at first you don't succeed...skydiving is not for you.)

Later, as Kerry was about to get into his car outside the Foreign Ministry building, 13-year-old Mustafa al-Nabulsi approached him with a drawing of the senator as a soldier in his Vietnam days. "You have made me much more important than I was, though. You made me a general," Kerry told the teen. "I wish you were the president," al-Nabulsi responded in English. "Thank you very much. So do I. Thank you for this," Kerry said. He asked for the boy's address, and al-Nabulsi gave him his mobile number.

This scene was a set-up; I'd bet any amount on it. Furthermore, the Bush administration continues to demonstrate a dangerous incompetence in media and PR matters by allowing these types of stunts by political opponents.

19
posted on 01/08/2005 12:42:43 PM PST
by tarheelswamprat
(Negotiations are the heroin of Westerners addicted to self-delusion.)

Kerry said there were "still concerns" that need to be addressed. "But I came away confident that the president and foreign minister are interested in moving in the right direction, and I am hopeful they will," he said.

After all, Assad is such a trustworthy soul. The only thing that Assad and his ilk understand is a swift kick up the bracket.

Then possibly we need to write Sen. Frist and all Republican Senators and demand the the JFK be censured in the Senate. Then let them know if he doesn't stop being a global gadfly meeting heads of state without permission, he will face charges of treason.

On offence is meant toward the poster of this thread. However, I am so tired of seeing the Traitor's name in print, that if he were to drop dead, I would not be upset about never even hearing about it.

good point...........Kerry and Carter have this insane view that meeting with our enemies is a worthwile endeavor....hey, i'm all for dimplomacy but he almost seems to diss his friends and half of America in his effort to appear diplomatic......well he is part of that, just a DIP

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